Read Online The Boyfriend Bylaws by Susan Hatler - Free Book Online

schedule every week.”
    “No problem. I understand.” She sounded unusually agreeable. “I’ll change the appointment to seven-thirty.”
    I kept the phone to my ear and stared at the ceiling. “Are they really open that late?”
    “Meet me in front of Dreamy Delights at seven twenty-five with your taste buds ready. You’re the bestest sissy ever. Bye-bye.”
    I stared at my cell phone screen. Call ended. Argh. I bit my bottom lip, flipped the phone shut and pounded on Nick’s office door. I really did want to be a good maid of honor for Kaitlin, but how could I with my ex as the groom-to-be? The cheating ex that had been two-timing me with the bride-to-be? Maybe Nick could help me decide what to do about Paul. If there was anything to do, that is.
    “Come in.”
    I entered, finding Nick sitting at his desk staring at his computer screen. “Hi,” I said.
    “Hi.” Nick’s face lit up and he gestured to the chair across from him. “You’re just the person I wanted to see.”
    “I am?” I slid into the chair and crossed my legs slowly.
    His eyes dropped from my face to my legs. “I, uh, went by your class this morning.”
    As I was listening, my eyes floated to a name plaque on his desk that read, “Nick Zambini.” My eyes widened. In the unlikely event that things worked out between us, I’d become Melanie Zambini? Ick. “Can I ask you something first. I need a man’s opinion.”
    “Okay.” Nick eyed my legs a moment longer, then leaned back in his chair with that dimpled smile. “Shoot.”
    “I have this friend.” Not a lie. A person could be her own friend, right? “She really liked this guy.”
    Nick leaned back in his chair and laced his fingers together in his lap. “Past tense, huh?”
    “Definitely past tense.” I bit my lip. Past for me, but not my stepsister. Paul was going to be her future. Which meant he’d be my future, too. “Anyway, this guy cheated on her.”
    Nick nodded. “So, she dropped him?”
    “Well, no. She didn’t know he’d cheated until after he’d broken it off with her.”
    Nick raised his brows. “Huh.”
    “So then…” I paused, wondering what the raised brows meant. He gave me a weird look. “What?”
    He sighed. “A girl knows when her boyfriend’s strayed. Woman’s intuition and all of that. Maybe your friend didn’t want to admit it to you, but she knew.”
    As if. I shook my head. “No, she would’ve told me. Believe me.”
    “She knew.”
    “No, she didn’t,” I gritted out.
    “She. Knew.”
    He said it so confidently. My mind raced for any clues that Paul had strayed. Sure, he’d worked late a lot, but successful men had to put in the hours. But it had been a clue. A clue I’d completely ignored. Had I been that desperate to be in a relationship?
    My chest went hollow. Yes, I had been.
    Being alone was my greatest fear. Had that made my woman’s intuition malfunction? The idea was overwhelming. How could I ever trust myself when it came to relationships again? Was I going to abide by The Boyfriend Bylaws forever? I started to hyperventilate and decided a change of subject was needed pronto. “Didn’t you say you wanted to see me about something?”
    He reached beneath his desk and pulled a white plastic bag with “Zam Bam” written in snazzy red letters outlined in black. “This is your new uniform.” He handed it to me. “It’s my cousin Peter’s new clothing line and he asked if his photographer could snap some photos of the employees later this week for ads and stuff. If you don’t mind.”
    “That’s fine.” The only thing I minded was ignoring the clues about Paul being faithful.
    I couldn’t deny it anymore. I deserved to be at the mercy of The Boyfriend Bylaws.
    “By the way…” Nick leaned forward on his elbows and looked me in the eye, “I wanted to give you a heads up. We’re changing the aerobics schedule and will only need you three days a week from now on.”
    I clamped my teeth together. “You’re